Gratitude

My boyfriend and I were talking this morning about gratitude, and what it really means. He felt that to be "grateful" was somehow equated to low self-esteem or weakness. I reminded him of the Lord's Prayer and that we show gratitude to God everyday for what we have. I told him that "gratitude" is about humility. It's about being humble and realizing that you aren't really that big a deal. There is so much more to life than "you", and you should be grateful for every little thing!

I was thinking on it some more later in the morning, and I realized that we are all just pieces of a puzzle, and together we create this big picture. Now, the picture just isn't the same if one of the pieces is missing-- it never feels "complete" without all of the pieces. However we are all just pieces, we are all just as important and inconsequential at the same time. What we create together is what is important. Individually a piece has little meaning.

On the drive to work this morning I saw the burrowing owls (I think I passed three this morning), and realized that those little owls were one thing that I was grateful for today. They are little pieces in the puzzle, too.


Today I am grateful for:

1. Little burrowing owls
   
2. That I have something to eat, even if it is this weirdly musky and foul-tasting "Plum/Honey/Lavender" yogurt. (yuck)
   
3. That I awake every morning with the morning sun, because I dislike the darkness of morning. I love my quiet moments in the garden with the sun rising, or holding my lovebird Odie in the morning while we watch the birds feed.
   
4. I'm grateful that I have some sense of purpose in my life, even if that purpose is simply "work" or "growing vegetables", or whatever my purpose is that day.
   
5. I'm grateful for all the little puzzle pieces.